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"Herodion" redirects here. For the saint traditionally
numbered among the Seventy Disciples, see Herodion of
Patras. For the Roman-era theatre in Athens, Greece, sometimes
known as the Herodion or Irodion, see [[1]].

Herodium or Herodion (Hebrew: הרודיון‎, Arabic: هيروديون‎, Jabal
al-Fraidees) is a hill which was artificially extended[1],
volcano-shaped like a truncated cone
(758 m / 2,487 ft above sea level), 12 kilometres (7.5 mi)
south of Jerusalem, located in the West Bank, southeast of Bethlehem and under control of Israel, built as a fortress
palace by King Herod the Great. It was known by the Crusaders as the "Mountain of
Franks", but Arab inhabitants call it Jabal
al-Fourdis or "Mountain of Paradise".[2]

This is the quote of the Roman-era Jewish historian Josephus with respect to the
fortress:

“

This fortress, which is
some sixty stadia[3] distant
from Jerusalem, is naturally strong and very suitable for such a
structure, for reasonably nearby is a hill, raised to a (greater)
height by the hand of man and rounded off in the shape of a breast.
At intervals it has round towers, and it has a steep ascent formed
of two hundred steps of hewn stone. Within it are costly royal
apartments made for security and for ornament at the same time. At
the base of the hill there are pleasure grounds built in such a way
as to be worth seeing, among other things because of the way in
which water, which is lacking in that place, is brought in from a
distance and at great expense. The surrounding plain was built up
as a city second to none, with the hill serving as an acropolis for
the other dwellings.

At the beginning of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Simon bar
Kokhba declared Herodium as his secondary headquarters.
Archeological evidences for the revolt were dispersed all over the
site, from the outside buildings to the water system under the
mountain. Inside the water system, supporting walls (which were
built by the rebels) were discovered, and another system of caves
was found. Inside one of those caves, the Field School of Kfar Etzion members
discovered a burned wood which, afterwards, they dated to Bar Kokhba
revolt time. The burned wood is still, after more than 1800
years inside the cave, waiting for the visitors.

Contents

Tomb of
Herod

Hebrew University Professor Ehud Netzer reported on
May 8, 2007 that he discovered Herod's gravesite atop of tunnels
and water pools at a flattened desert site halfway up the hill to
Herodium 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Jerusalem, the
precise location given by Josephus in his writings.[4] Later
excavations strengthened the idea that this site is Herod's
mausoleum.[5] The
base of the tomb has now been uncovered and is visible to visitors
to the site.